Turn that frown upside down

After much delay, I finally had purchased Poker Tracker and put it to use. It took me a while to understand what some of this really meant. I guess that is the reason I should buy the Poker Tracker Guide sometime soon to make sure I am getting the optimal use of the software.

But after feeding it my Party Poker, Full Tilt and PokerRoom hands, it gave me that green frowning face. It said I was Semi Loose Aggressive/Passive. I took it that because it was a frowning face that it wasn't good. I saw there was a smiley face that meant I was aggressive after the flop.

So after I started playing on PokerShare, it showed I was still a frowning face on there site too. And I had to admit they were right. There were too many bets I was giving up on the turn or river because of possible flushes, straights, or feeling my opponent had a set. But what I realized was I could also bluff it out, making them believe I was the one who hit it.

Then I started to watch the icons that were being generated for others. Soon I was able to use their tendencies against them. I then began taking better notes. I like to think my play improved as I got use to a more aggressive style, but Poker Tracker helped as well. A good example is one player in particular. Table after table, I somehow got the button to his BB. I tend to steal but usually with a good hand. I noticed that no matter what, he would raise me back from the big blind. He was willing to defend it to the death. Or so it seemed. I would give the continuation bet on the flop and see the automatic raise. I noticed the pattern and started to simply call. But on the turn, I would again bet out, but re-raise his raise. It worked again and again. Needless to say, he is one player that I have taken a lot of money off of.

But not as much as the guy who is seeing over 77% of the flops. He showed up at a table with me tonight on my right. Again and again I raised him and took a nice amount off of him. Finally I have someone I can search out and beat up.

So after tuning my game, a great thing happened yesterday. My green frowning guy turned into a smiley face. I celebrated by going out for buckets of beer with a friend. Best yet, though I didn't play great at times tonight, he never frowned.

My great run at the UB skin PokerShare continues. I am up over a grand there. I feel my game is pretty good at the 3/6 tables there. Time to move up to the 4/8 soon and check out how different the game is there.

But I also am curious at to what the best icon truly is on Poker Tracker. Do you want to have the money bag or eagle? I have seen players with them and they seem like they may be too tight and only aggressive with big hands. Any feedback on the optimal icon for PT is appreciated.

In less than a week I should be chatting up Linda at the Bellagio where I intend to try the 8/16 game. I also hope that a slower pace live game can result in the same gains as playing online. It would be rather discouraging to sit down, see a bunch of crappy hands and toss them away, just to see good hands cracked. But I am confident of some good sessions.

Less than a week to Vegas. Friday will suck.